Markus Zohner: The Re-discovery of the Ancient Amber Way

Markus Zohner, for nine months has walked on foot from Venice / Italy to St. Petersburg / Russia – a 12-country 4,000 Km Walk along the Ancient Amber Way, about which he has written a book, edited by FIZZO Photo BookFilm in German („Die Wiederentdeckung der Bernsteinstrasse“) and in Italian (“La riscoperta dell’antica Via dell’Ambra”).

A huge Photographic Exhibition with over 120 pictures has been devised, which has been presented in Austria, Italy, Hungary and lately in Bellinzona / Ticino, at Sasso Corbaro Castle.

His walk lead him through Italy, Slovenia, Hungary, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovacchia, Poland, Kaliningrad, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Russia. For any further information in english please contact Mr. Zohner.

As often with such ventures, the idea for this journey was born from a dream: to set off on a long hike, completely on my own, in my own right, and accountable only to myself. People often ask me: “Why did you do this?” Or: “What was the real reason
for your journey?” To be honest, I don’t know. Except for the fact that there was this dream, which became more and more clear and pressing, and which took on more concrete form, the more I thought about the different countries, the Amber Road and its history. One and a half years before I actually set off on my journey, I started taking these dreams more seriously and giving them a more clearly defined outline.

In my nocturnal dream expeditions through the maps of the world, I focused more and more on Europe and that part of the continent, which fascinated me most, so that one day I inevitably encountered the Amber Road. It runs right through those countries and regions, which interested me most.

Often, people I met said: “I would also love to do such a thing!” And when I asked them why they didn’t do it – hiking, after all, is something that most people can do – they found a wealth of excuses: family, work, their homes, their employers, age, etc. And more than once, when I heard these answers, I pondered whether, in fact, we work, buy houses, and pay insurance policies only so we don’t have to realize our dreams.

Mr. Zohner heads an independent Arts and Theatre Company which develops and performs artistic projects internationally in Theatre, Photography, Radio, Video and Film, receiving awards from many countries around the world.